A Second Chance
by puzzlingnerd57
Summary: AU from end of 4.5. When Fitz found himself stuck in another dimension following the events at Roxxon, he never expected the revelations he would discover. Nor could he have predicted what happened once he escaped.


**Yes, I know… I should be working on Iced Duo (which I have put on hiatus for the time being, sorry!), and finishing the sequel to Hot Peppers (it's about 1/3 done), but Agents of SHIELD is the biggest plot bunny multiplier on Earth. This fanfiction idea came from a Facebook post of all things. The poster said "What if ... those people who appeared to have gone thru failed terregenesis were actually transported to where ever Coulson, Fitz, and Robbie are right now?". It was then followed up with #triplives, which I think every fan wanted. So I asked if I could write this story, and was given the green light. I hope you enjoy this new story, and yes, I will finish my other ones too. I'm not sure how far I'll get with this story, but I intend to post at least 3 chapters. After that, I'll let you guys know what my intentions are.**

 **p.s. I know that this is NOT what really happens, but I started this before the next episode came out, so therefore, it is a total AU, completely ignoring LMD and Agents of Hydra for now.**

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Fitz looked around. He had no idea where he was, or where Coulson and Robbie were. Come to think of it… was he even alive? The last thing he remembered was a blinding white light; the computers acting up; something going wrong.

"Hello?" he called, his voice echoing through the empty corridor. Fitz felt his heart rate increasing. Were Coulson and Robbie there at all? Were they alive?

"Anybody?" As the last syllable reverberated, he realized that he should move. He was in a corridor. There had to be some kind of turn, some kind of door, some way out. Right?

Fitz turned his head left, then right. Both directions were identical concrete hallways with yellow utility pipes on the walls. No markings were present apart from the pipes, which bore nothing more than serial numbers. Making a split-second decision, he turned and began to walk to the right.

Endless possibilities streamed through his mind as he slowly walked. Maybe the trio had just been split up. Maybe they were still in the Roxxon lab. Or… Maybe whatever happened was similar to the rock that yanked Simmons to that cursed planet. Maybe they were in an alternate dimension. Maybe they were dead. Maybe, he hoped, he had been hit in the head and was having some bizarre hallucination. Maybe, he wished, he was back at the base, Simmons checking on him to make sure he wasn't in a coma. Maybe, he prayed, he was still in his labs, before he had been sucked into the team. Maybe that was it. Maybe it was some sort of chemical explosion, possibly a new ICER round went wrong?

So caught up in his thoughts, he barely recognized that there was a sound behind him. Something more than the slight tone of his even footsteps. It was heavier, faster, louder than he knew he was being. Fear shot through him, as he realized that he was being followed. Not wanting to risk finding out if it was a friend, ally or enemy, he took off.

As he ran, Fitz automatically started scanning for doors, closets, anyway that he could get away.

"Fitz?" an oddly familiar voice yelled after him. Fitz couldn't place the tone or accent apart from that it wasn't either of the men he had been in Roxxon with. His lungs screamed for air as he finally caught sight of a service door to his left. Lunging towards it, he began to frantically twist and tug on the door.

'Locked!' his mind supplied as he began to panic. Whipping around, hand still on the knob, he scanned frantically for any other possibility. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his arm and twisted him around.

"Fitz? What are you doing here?" Fitz stared wide-eyed at his follower. It couldn't be. Coulson and Skye (Daisy his subconscious whispered, but no, she had been Skye then) had said…

"Trip?!"

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Coulson flexed his hand as he walked, methodically cataloging the situation. He had seen a lot in his time as a SHIELD agent, and even stranger things during his time as director. Being transported by a wave of white light was rather unusual, he would admit, but nothing that happened to him was ever any type of normal.

His mind picked up on the smallest details: the type of pipes, the smell of the air, the non-existent noise, a few odd shards of glass. Vaguely, he remembered a corridor marked on the Roxxon map that seemed to have a similar layout. Most importantly though, he recognized that Fitz and Robbie were nowhere to be found. Both of them had been in the building when the wave had hit. How far had it gone? Where did it come from? Was the whole thing a trap, or was it some kind of failsafe on the technology there? Was there a way to figure out where they were? Were their friends searching for them? Were they, as much as Coulson hated to think of it, alive?

"Coulson? Fitz?" a Hispanic voice called, a faint echo along the corridor. Coulson turned, moving towards the voice.

"Robbie? Is that you?" he yelled back. Quick footsteps headed towards him to reveal a tired looking Robbie Reyes.

"I was looking for you. I think I found a way out. We gotta hurry though. It looks like it's gonna close soon." Robbie said. Coulson turned around, looking away from the… whatever the thing inside of him was called. There was no sign of Fitz.

"Coulson?" Robbie asked. The agent turned back.

"We can't leave Fitz." He decided. Robbie shook his head.

"We may not have a choice. If that thing closes, I doubt it's gonna reopen anytime we'd live to see it." Coulson looked down each hallway again, troubled. He couldn't betray Fitz like that. Robbie looked at Coulson.

"I don't like it either. But at this point, we're the only ones who know where this is, and what it's like. Someone's gotta leave here and tell the others so they can figure out how to get us back." Coulson looked back at the Hispanic man, pain shining through in his eyes.

"The second we get back, we work on getting him out." Robbie nodded, before they turned around and headed in the direction Robbie saw the portal.

'Fitz,' Coulson promised 'I will find a way to get you out.'

-8-8-8—8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Fitz couldn't help but stare at the figure in front of him. It couldn't be Trip. It just couldn't be. Trip was dead, destroyed by the same thing that made Daisy into Quake.

But at the same time, he knew it was. The same way he knew Jemma had been alive on that alien planet, the same way he knew that Daisy wasn't dangerous when she got her powers. Trip looked the exact same. Same mustache, same thin beard, same outfit even. It was as if he was standing at the entrance to the temple again, watching as everyone prepared to destroy the ancient city.

Fitz choked on his next breath. It was so surreal, that it couldn't be real. He began gasping, fighting for every breath as he tried to make sense of it. This couldn't be happening, couldn't be real. But as Trip drew him in closer, gently rubbing his back, whispering gentle words to him in an attempt to stop his panic, he knew that whatever this was, wherever this was, Trip was real. He clung to the man, letting the emotions he had long held back over his death wash over him as warm arms surrounded him, calming him and healing him in a way that Fitz had never thought possible.

Fitz didn't know how much time passed before he and Trip finally separated, wiping away tears as he went.

"How? I mean, the… the… the…." Fitz cut himself off, frowning as his stutter returned for the first time in a long while.

"That mist stuff?" Trip interjected, watching the Scot carefully.

"The terrigen. Yes. We all thought it killed you." He whispered, feeling ashamed. He thought he had gotten over the stutter. It had been a long time since he had done that. Since he had forgotten a word. He hadn't done that since before…Maveth.

Trip sighed mournfully. He must have not been gone as long as he thought, if Fitz was still struggling with his words. The younger agent's appearance made it seem as though it had been years. He had been praying to a God he knew probably didn't exist wherever he was that Fitz was healing faster than before. Apparently there was no God there.

"I gotta be honest with you Fitz, I thought I was a goner. When that stuff covered me, I said to myself, 'This is it, I'm done for'. But next thing I knew, I was in this hallway, alone, covered in dust and seriously confused." Fitz sniffed quietly. He was struggling after less than an hour in this place. He couldn't picture trying to be alone for almost 2 years. Hearing the soft noise, Trip pulled Fitz into another hug, and basked in the feeling of physical contact, after however long it had been. Feeling the younger agent slump against him, he carefully lowered them to the ground, pulling Fitz partially onto his lap as the agent trembled in his arms.

"Fitz? You with me bud?" Trip whispered after a few minutes. He felt Fitz nod into his chest, and continued to hold him as the shaking subsided gradually. Trip was about to pull away when Fitz began to speak quietly, accent heavier than Trip could remember.

"After ye… vanished, there wus an earthquake. We barely made it out." He shuddered, remembering all the fear and anguish. Trip held him even closer.

"It wasn't until later that we found out that whatever that mist wus, it did somethin' to Skye. If she got scared or upset, stuff would shake, or shatter. We learned from the Lady Sif that it meant she was part Kree." Fitz unburrowed his head to look up at Trip.

"She has alien blood. It meant that when that thing touched 'er, she got powers." He nestled back into the body behind him.

"We discovered that Mack, Hunter and Bobbi were workin' for a group called Real SHIELD, that dinna' like how Coulson was runnin' things. Skye accidentally let loose her powers and wus taken to a place called Afterlife, where lots of people like her lived and trained. She met her mum, but…" Fitz stopped.

"But what?" Trip prompted. Fitz sighed.

"But her mum was evil. She started a war with SHIELD, and almost killed Skye and May. After that, Skye decided to start goin' by her birth name, Daisy." Fitz once more cut himself off, scared to tell Trip what came next.

"Then we found this monolith. It… it…" he took a shuddering breath. "It sucked Jemma up and tossed her on an alien planet." He felt Trip inhale below him, but kept going.

"Daisy became head of a team of inhumans like herself. With the help of her abilities, we were able to get Jemma back. May's ex turned out to be an inhuman also, but 'e couldn't really control it." Haltingly, Fitz continued his description of what Trip had missed. He refused to look at the other man though, scared about what he would think of everything. Once he finished, Fitz fell silent. Neither said anything for a long while before Trip spoke.

"I knew it felt like a long time here. I can't imagine going through that Fitz." Trip looked down at the agent curled up on his lap, before leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on the red curls. He felt Fitz start, before nuzzling back in and staying silent. The two continued to sit before Fitz sat up, frowning.

"What is that?" he asked. Trip followed his gaze to the ground, where shards of a glass like material lay. He shrugged.

"I don't actually know. Honestly, I never really noticed it. It's everywhere, so I always thought it was just part of this place. It did strike me as familiar though. I mean, the last real thing I remember is destroying that crystal thing in the temple, so…" He stopped, not sure what else to say. Fitz crawled off the agent's lap, and gingerly picked up a larger piece. He held it up to the light, watching it reflect with an other worldly light. Familiarity struck him as well, and he watched it flash with streaks of blue, purple and a rainbow of colors. Then it hit him.

"It's the Terrigan crystal! This is… it's what brought you here!" Fitz turned back to Trip, eyes gleaming with excitement.

"You said it's everywhere?" He asked. Upon receiving a nod, he jumped to his feet.

"Then there may be other people here somewhere! Maybe Coulson or Robbie found them! Maybe we can use this crystal… this material, it could be our way out!" Fitz exclaimed, jumping in happiness.

Trip shifted from his spot still on the ground. The last time he'd seen Fitz this excited was before he was injured, before Hydra. But…

"Fitz." The scientist turned to face his companion, smile fading as he took in the sad look on his face.

"I've been here for almost two years. I've wandered these halls that whole time, and never once met anyone else. I'm sorry, but I think we're alone here." Fitz stopped. No, they couldn't be. There must have been hundreds of people who went through failed Terragenesis. Daisy had told him about Afterlife, how everyone there was waiting for a chance to see if they were "worthy", but how more of them died than gained abilities. It couldn't be just him, Trip, Coulson and Robbie. He shook his head, banishing the depressing thought from his mind.

"That doesn't mean we can't try and find a way out. We have to try Trip, please. At the very least, we need to find Coulson and Robbie." He wobbled slightly, suddenly feeling drained and tired. Trip steadied him.

"We will, but for now, you need to rest. Sometimes, odd items would show up around here. Let me help you to where I've been staying here." Fitz sluggishly nodded, almost toppling over, before Trip swept him into his arms, and began walking. It didn't take long for the gentle rocking motion and the warmth of the body carrying him to lull Fitz to sleep.


End file.
